"When religion is not influential in a society or has ceased to be, the state inherits the entire burden of public morality, crime and intolerance. It then must use punishment and police. Yet this is unsuccessful as morality, integrity and self-respect not already inherent in the individual, cannot be enforced with any great success." That quote shows us how religious influence in society plays a vital role in people's life. Furthermore, some theologians declared this religion is the main source for morality. For that reason religion has influenced the society in the past on how it is supposed to act toward such a specific scientific evolution, for example cloning. Religion is among the most powerful factors shaping attitudes toward human reproductive cloning. However, as science moves forward, the challenge to religion increases. I actually see how religions look like has no more power and dominion over nations as before. In religious view, cloning is wrong because it directly challenges the authority of the Lord: "Cloning humans is Science presuming to have rights that belong only to our Creator." "It is not up to humans to clone themselves, it is up to the Lord, who made what he wanted to make." As many Christians do not believe that God intends for humans to create other humans. Some respondent proclaimed, "Cloning should be limited to medical reasons only, and only allowed to continue so far. Anything else will disrupt the natural process of nature: birth and death."
In short, that stresses the capacity of religion to resist the secularizing influence of science. The controversy over cloning in part illustrates the possibility of heated future conflict between religion and science.
References:
A Scientific Study of Religion by J. Milton Yunger, Oberlin College.
http://jetpress.org/volume13/bainbridge.html
http://www.freedommag.org/issue/201412-expansion/l-ron-hubbard/religious-influence-in-society.html
In short, that stresses the capacity of religion to resist the secularizing influence of science. The controversy over cloning in part illustrates the possibility of heated future conflict between religion and science.
References:
A Scientific Study of Religion by J. Milton Yunger, Oberlin College.
http://jetpress.org/volume13/bainbridge.html
http://www.freedommag.org/issue/201412-expansion/l-ron-hubbard/religious-influence-in-society.html
It seems that, though Western religions would strictly forbid cloning, this is not the case for every religion. To some followers of the Eastern religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, cloning is actually compatible with their beliefs. For instance, Reverend Ji Kwan, head of South Korea’s largest Buddhist order of monks, did not condemn Hwang Woo Suk for his human cloning research. Ji Kwan said that "research with embryos was in accord with Buddha’s precepts and urged Korean scientists not to be guided by Western ethics." Cloning does not seem to conflict with the Buddhist and Hindu notions of reincarnation the way that it does with the creation story of Christianity. Religion certainly directs the way one will judge the morality of cloning.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/science/20tier.html